Policy

There is no mistaking it: Texas’ energy landscape is shifting.

As global markets transition to low- or zero-emission energy resources, oil and gas bankruptcies have increased and new technologies have come on the scene promising to lower climate-warming emissions. The Railroad Commission of Texas, our state’s oil and gas oversight agency, is increasingly finding itself at the center of the energy transition, whether managing a growing orphaned well population left behind by bankrupt operators, or creating new programs to oversee the safety of carbon injection or geothermal energy wells.

Commission Shift Action is committed to ensuring that this changing energy landscape prioritizes the needs of communities most impacted by the Railroad Commission’s decisions. For too long, the commission has prioritized the requests of its campaign donors — the same companies it is supposed to be holding accountable to state law.

We believe that state agencies should be ethical, proactive, transparent, accessible, and accountable to the people and places they serve.

Orphaned Wells

An orphaned well is an unplugged oil, gas, or injection well whose owner can’t be located or is bankrupt. In addition to these unplugged wells, there are old wells that were poorly plugged and are ticking time bombs that might start leaking and contaminating groundwater. The number of unplugged wells in Texas has consistently grown over the past decade. Orphaned wells are a product of bad policy, not a lack of funding from the industry. Taxpayers are increasingly being asked to foot the bill for plugging wells that profitable companies could have plugged themselves. It’s time for the Texas Legislature to step up and protect private property rights.

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a suite of technologies that includes capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and injecting them deep underground. As interest grows in CCS as a solution to climate change, Commission Shift Action is dubious about the ability of the Railroad Commission to safely oversee CO2 pipelines or injection wells in Texas. Proposals to limit companies’ liability along the CCS supply chain could result in poorly built facilities and physical harm to Texans.

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